Cirque du Soleil OVO: Backstage
...the "magic" behind the magic!
RainyDayMagazine saw Cirque du Soleil CRYSTAL at Boston University’s Agganis Arena a few years ago. Cirque du Soleil OVO premiered in New England at the same arena on Friday. We, of course, were on hand to see the show.
Our write-up for OVO is less about the show and more about the “show” BEHIND the show: Cirque du Soleil generously invited us backstage to see the “magic” behind the magic! And there is ALOT of magic behind the magic!
Boston University’s Agganis Arena: a 290,000-square-foot multipurpose sports and entertainment center with over 7,000 seats for concerts, sporting events, and family shows.
Backstage
Our backstage host was Janie Mallet, Ovo’s Senior Publicist. She spent an hour with us, taking us to and explaining the different backstage areas (practice arena, wardrobe, etc.), and describing:
- what we were looking at,
- the complexities and logistics involved in a Cirque du Soleil traveling show, and
- how the work behind the scenes supports the performance up front.
We. Are. The. Press.
Practice Area
Our first stop was the practice area, which was half of the entire arena!
The most impressive thing about this is that not a single person practicing lost their concentration while all this non-acrobatic ballyhooing was going on around them.
The practice area had all the riggings set up, allowing the performers to practice, rehearse, and hone their routines, but closer to the ground. Of course, setting everything up in the practice is no less complex than of the main stage!
Everywhere, someone was practicing something or reviewing something – Cirque does not mess around!
It was pretty cool to watch the performers warm up with moves that were amazing individually, but just incredible when done in combination and seemingly without effort!
No biggie, she does this for a living (and clearly loves it).
The clip below was to an answer to a question asked, but note the performer in the back going through her movements!
It goes without saying that all of the performers are top-conditioned athletes. Because each performer has specific conditioning needs, they have their own personal conditioning routines. To keep everyone at their peak, the show travels with a full gym-on-wheels.
Dumb-bells up the wazoo (that’s French, so you might not know what that means).
Wardrobe
Dazzling costumes is a signature of Cirque du Soleil. Our host took us deep into the inner wardrobe sanctum so we could take a peek behind the curtain.
Controlled, orderly chaos.
The theme of OVO was inspired by the insect world, with its frenetic energy, abundant diversity, and varied beauty. The costumes created reflect those qualities and more. The costumes go through a lot of wear and tear during the performances and must be fastidiously “looked after.” For that to happen, there is a crew skilled in sewing, repair, and everything related to wardrobe doing the “looking after.”
No rent, nor tear, nor loose button will stays these couturiers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds…
Keeping a costume “working” sometimes is not enough. There is a “backup” of the collection just so there is no downtime.
Kind of a backup of the backup of the backup, if you know what I mean.
For all of the performers, their footwear is an important piece of the overall look, but it needs to meet the physical aspect of the characters. The outside is a cosmetic wrapper hiding the functional footwear inside. This gives the performers footwear appropriate for the physical demands of their particular role, while keeping the visual aspect of the costume. Clever!
Very grasshoppery.
The same is true for every costume. The high-flying trapeze artists wear creations that work with what their movements require. Artists with less demanding physical roles can have more fantastically elaborate ornamentations and adornments.
Someone made that. For one specific person.
Makeup is as much a costume as clothing or shoes. To fully transform into their character, each performer applies their own makeup, all of which are available in the incredibly well organized makeup cabinets.
With tips on what you should look like when you’re done!
The wardrobe team travels with all of the gear they need to do repairs of every kind. The same is true for keeping the all of the hundreds of costumes clean: a full complement of three industrial washing machines and six industrial dryers are mounted in crates that can be packed up and moved, just like everything else for the show.
Yep – it all moves with the show.
Stage
The overall setting of OVO is a stylized habitat that is home to the insects. Sometimes it’s a forest, sometimes it’s a cave; it’s even a house at one point. The objective of the stage design was to create an organic environment that leads to other places.
A completely new stage and acrobatic structure were created for OVO. The Wall, measuring 64 feet wide by 30 feet tall, is used as a giant projection surface, but also allows some really fun acrobatics!
Practice, practice, practice – and then the fun begins!
The acrobatic structure is 45 feet (FORTY FIVE FEET) off the ground and weighs over 22,000 pounds. The stage floor is made of 225 panels. Poles rising high above the insect world represent the strands of flowers. The performing artists climb the flowers and appear at various levels above the stage.
Yep, it is really as high as it looks.
For everything to work together, there is a crew, literally behind and underneath the stage, moving the right pieces around at the right time.
A well-honed crew indeed.
The complex “dance” on stage is made possible by the unseen choreography of technicians/wizards occurring in the dark. Our backstage tour gave us a quick glimpse of many stations—technical and otherwise—supporting the OVO performance.
Stuff we don’t even know what it is, being set up by people who really really know that they’re doing.
Premiere
The Boston premiere of OVO was exactly what one expects from a Cirque du Soleil show: incredible feats of strength, skilled acrobatics, and AMAZING costumes, all creatively tied together thematically.
We think that the best way to enjoy the Cirque du Soleil experience is to take in the richness of the total event. Things are going on EVERYWHERE, and it is not possible to see it all. Follow what catches your attention and don’t forget to look at what’s happening at the back of the stage, on the wall, etc. You will be astounded at find what you find 🙂
Very, very, atmospheric – and perfect.
Pro Tip: Bring a small pair of binoculars…the facial expressions (it’s called acting) of the performers are one of the hidden gems of the show!
Our best shot of the night – catching two aerial artists in mid-movement!
FinalThoughts
The amount of planning, logistics, and coordination involved in putting on a Cirque du Soleil traveling show is mind-boggling; what we saw behind the scenes made that clear. Everyone was doing something, and everyone clearly knew what they were doing. When a group is on the road for 100 days a year, it must turn into a pretty tight community.
While we absolutely have zero skills that would allow us on the stage with the performers, it kind of made us momentarily consider running away and joining the circus…maybe as part of the backstage crew 🙂
OVO has thrilled more than 7 million people in over 160 cities and close to 30 different countries. The show will be in Boston from Jul 19-28, 2024, and then moving onto to three other New England cities (Worcester MA, Providence RI, and Manchester NH) before heading to Canada and other US cities.
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